Harpoon- Deception Among Birds

Harpoon is back and they are just as noisy as ever! The band formed back in 2007 and since they have put out a demo, a full-length, and popped up on a couple splits. Their sound is pretty "all over the place" to say the least. At one moment you may find yourself in a massive whirlwind of feedback filled, grind/powerviolence and the next you are hearing some very enthralling doom. Deception Among Birds clocks in at just under forty minutes and within that time Harpoon is going to do anything possible to win you over.

The guitarwork featured here varies quite a bit. Many sections on the album are very fast paced and filled with adrenaline and fury. This sections are great and these dudes definitely have the ability to thrash your face off, but when they take the time to slow things down things get very interesting. A prime example of this is the epic "Troglodyte's Delight". The track breaks seven minutes and is without a doubt one of the best things Harpoon has ever recorded. The slow, hypnotic riffs ring throughout the head of the listener for what seems like an eternity, which is by no means of bad thing. "Troglodyte's Delight" could be the soundtrack of my life and I would live on with no complaints.

Things get a little experimental at times. One example of this is towards the end of the title track. A brief moment of feedback hits and then you are sent flying into a wall of odd noises. This goes on for a few minutes and throughout that time the layers of noises dissipate slowly to reveal a simple acoustic melody to close out the album. The vocals are filled with hate and are very in your face for the most part. Toney takes every opportunity given to assault your ears and he is successful 100% of the time. At times some clean vocals come into play, this happens most during moments that can almost be classified as drone. It adds a nice chunk of diversity and keeps things from growing stale in the vocal department.

Overall Harpoon have really tapped into their sound with Deception Among Birds. This is by far their most mature release to date. Deception Among Birds shows that Harpoon isn't afraid to experiment and also shows that they can do so without losing their vicious sound that we had heard on previous releases. Fans of grind, doom, drone, death, oxygen, and thrash should give this a listen. You won't be sorry, and the play count will shoot up like a rocket.

Mammon- Demiurge

Mammon is a sludgy metal band from Canberra, Australia. When thinking of Australia slow, sludged out metal isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind. Thankfully Mammon pull out all the stops in making this three track machine destroy as much as humanly possible. Prepare yourself for twenty minutes of home grown goodness.

The album opens with a clip of a man saying "I am a false prophet, God is a superstition" over and over again until the heavily distorted guitar creeps in and steals the show. The album consists of three tracks, simply titled I,II,III. These three tracks, when combined, come to a total of twenty minutes. During this twenty minutes Mammon made damn sure that they packed in some of the most harsh, angry, and epic music known to man. The riffs featured on the album are certainly a highlight. For the most part the guitar playing has a strong southern feel to it. In a few aspects it is reminiscent of Church Of Misery. Some people may be turned off by a sloppy note or two featured on the record but it really just adds to the natural feel in the end.

Though for a good portion of the record Mammon like to take it slow they still pack one hell of a punch. The intensity in some sections of these three tracks are off the charts. That being said there are some calm moments on the record but they don't stick around too long. The slow building section in "III" is surprisingly relaxing even with all the barbaric shrieks and shouts. That is what makes this release so excellent. Mammon never sacrifices one aspect of the music in order to fuel another. The album may be intense but they refuse to dumb down the writing just to sound heavy.

The vocals on the album consist of a wide variety of styles. Everything from growls, hardcore yells, and shrieks can be heard throughout the short runtime of Demiurge. The wide variety of vocals keep the listening experience fresh. Another thing that makes this aspect so enjoyable is the fact that these angry cries are convincing. So many bands just yell for the sake of being extreme but come out sounding uninspired, that is not the case here. I'm not going to act like I know the guy personally but based on this album I think it is safe to say that he was very pissed when recording this.

Overall Demiurge is definitely not a release that should be ignored. Mammon play a style of their own and can hold a listener's attention like no other. The band is versatile enough to appeal to a wide spectrum of metal and hardcore fans. So those of you in search of new music in the vein of Cower, Church Of Misery, or Bongzilla Mammon is without a doubt worth a look. If they ever decide to release a full-length big things could happen. The potential shown here is gigantic.

Email mammonband@hotmail.com with your address to get the demo delivered to you!